Aerial view of the upper Willamette River, Oregon.

Aerial view of the upper Willamette River, Oregon. Although some off-channel features and riparian forest remain, particularly in upper reaches as illustrated here, overall the Willamette River has lost about 50% of its off-channel alcoves and 80% of its bottomland forest since 1850. Much of the valley has been converted to agriculture and urban and rural development. The Willamette River Basin covers 13% of the area of Oregon, supports almost 70% of the state's population, and produces 45% of Oregon’s agricultural market value. The basin also contains the richest native fish fauna in Oregon, as well as several species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The number of people in the basin is expected to nearly double in the next 50 years, placing tremendous demands on limited land and water resources, and creating major challenges for land- and water-use planning and management. This photograph originally appeared on the cover of Ecological Applications (14:2) in April of 2004.